The Best Travel Writing, Volume 11 is the latest in the annual Travelers' Tales series launched in 2004 to celebrate the world's best travel writing — from Nobel Prize winners to emerging new writers. The points of view and perspectives are global, and themes encompass high adventure, spiritual growth, romance, hilarity and misadventure, service to humanity, and encounters with exotic cuisines and cultures. Includes winners from the annual Solas Awards for Best Travel Writing. Views: 9
This triptych of stylistically diverse stories - on the unifying theme of the occult, mysticism and primitive religion - features three equally diverse protagonists: a revered tribal chief whose life depends on concealing signs of age, a debonair daemon suffering professional ennui in a staff training role without prospects, and a visionary moon colonist on the run from unrequited love who is blackmailed into sham psychotherapy and drawn into a bloody labour dispute. Views: 9
In the village of Spire, murder is afoot. Wealthy landowner Alexander, Earl of Greengrass is caught with his trousers down in the village graveyard before meeting a gruesome end. Luckily Susie Mahl happens to be on hand. With her artist's eye for detail and her curious nature she is soon on the scent of the murderer... Views: 9
To her latest novel, Beattie brings the same documentary accuracy and Chekhovian wit and tenderness that have made her one of the most acclaimed portraitists of contemporary American life. Marshall Lockard, a professor at the local college, is contemplating adultery, unaware that his wife is already committing it.From the Trade Paperback edition.From Publishers WeeklySuccessfully avoiding the one-note, affectless deadpan to which her work was in danger of succumbing, Beattie provides plenty of dramatic tension in this absorbing narrative of a man emotionally distanced from his life. Marshall Lockard, youngish professor at a small New England college, is a peevish, condescending loner; his career is at a dead end and his marriage to Sonja is passionless. When he impulsively stops his car to pick up an attractive student, he has a vague idea of starting an affair with her. But the story Cheryl tells him?that her roommate says she's been abused and raped by Jack McCallum, a colleague of Marshall's in the English department?gradually enmeshes Marshall in McCallum's very messy life. Seeing echoes of his own personality in McCallum's passive sadness, Marshall begins slowly to acknowledge the complexities of his life, including the harmful effects of his father's bullying and his mother's early death. Meanwhile, the reader has been puzzling over a series of undated letters interspersed throughout the narrative; written to a woman called Martine (whose identity, when it is finally revealed on a tombstone, brings past and present together), they are penned by an obviously cold, arrogant, manipulative man who signs only his initial. Eventually, the letters hold a clue to Marshall's emotionally crippled personality. Though this novel has a few maladroit episodes (e.g., the true identity of Cheryl's roommate is gratuitously melodramatic), Beattie's writing has a new immediacy and intensity. The enduring effects of childhood trauma, which she explored in her previous novel, Picturing Will, are here conveyed with wit, irony and compassion. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalIn her latest novel since Picturing Will (LJ 1/90), Beattie again explores the anxieties of the American middle class. Using a deliberately understated narrative voice, she presents the confused world of college professor Marshall Lockheed and his wife, Sonja. As Marshall ponders whether to tell Sonja about his complicated infatuation with a student, Sonja ponders the pros and cons of revealing her brief affair with her boss. Meanwhile, repercussions from their rather unexceptional indiscretions are about to plunge both Lockheeds into some very unusual territory. In the background are Marshall's dying stepmother, a woman with secrets of her own, and a collection of mysterious letters from the past with significant links to the present. Beattie's detached prose captures characters and events photographically: precise images are put forth for the reader to ponder without authorial analysis or elaboration. At its best, this technique stimulates thought and imagination, but it will not appeal to all readers. Nevertheless, this is essential where Beattie's work is admired.-?Starr E. Smith, Marymount Univ., Arlington, Va.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 9
Life is passing Nadia Duskin by from her position in the mailroom. It only fulfills two necessities: keeping the repo man away and keeping her up to date on her sexy CEO.Ethan Wright is prepared to frighten and fire the nosey girl who sorts his company’s mail. After engaging with her at one of his favorite places in the world, he digs deeper. Together, they find the kind of pleasure that could keep them satisfied for a lifetime. Her love may be the key to putting both of their lives back on track, but to what end? When a man he’s been contracted to kill threatens Nadia’s life, he forces her to face reality. Either they’ll delve deeper into the desires neither expected or they may die trying. Views: 8
A fascinating collection of new and classic tales of the fearsome Djinn, from bestselling, award-winning and breakthrough international writers.Imagine a world filled with fierce, fiery beings, hiding in our shadows, in our dreams, under our skins. Eavesdropping and exploring; savaging our bodies, saving our souls. They are monsters, saviours, victims, childhood friends. Some have called them genies: these are the Djinn.And they are everywhere. On street corners, behind the wheel of a taxi, in the chorus, between the pages of books. Every language has a word for them. Every culture knows their traditions. Every religion, every history has them hiding in their dark places.There is no part of the world that does not know them. They are the Djinn. They are among us... Views: 8
Who is more dangerous? An enemy? A friend? Or a lover?Bonnie Graham stands in the open door of her friend's apartment. She is alone, except for the dead body lying in a pool of blood on the floor. What happened? What will Bonnie do now? Whom can she turn to? And what role has she played in the murderous events?Bonnie is a music teacher who has spent a long, hot summer in London rehearsing with a band to play at a friend's wedding. It was supposed to be fun, but the band members find the complicated knots of their friendships--some old, some new--unraveling as the days themselves unwind. What was meant to be a summer of happiness, love, and music turns deadly as lovers betray one another, passions turn murderous, and friendship itself becomes a crime. Everyone tells lies. But is anyone prepared to tell the truth to uncover a murderer?Nicci French, the author of eleven internationally bestselling novels including Killing Me Softly, Catch Me... Views: 8
A post-9/11 literary spy thriller from the National Book Award–winning author of Tree of SmokeRoland Nair calls himself Scandinavian but travels on a U.S. passport. After ten years' absence, he returns to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, to reunite with his friend Michael Adriko. They once made a lot of money here during the country's civil war, and, curious to see whether good luck will strike twice in the same place, Nair allows himself to be drawn back to a region he considers hopeless. Adriko is an African who styles himself a soldier of fortune and who claims to have served, at various times, the Ghanaian army, the Kuwaiti Emiri Guard, and the American Green Berets. He's probably broke now, but he remains, at thirty-six, as stirred by his own doubtful schemes as he was a decade ago. Although Nair believes some kind of money-making plan lies at the back of it all, Adriko's stated reason for inviting his friend to Freetown is for... Views: 8
The Alien film franchise has been embraced by sci-fi fans around the world. The series stars Lieutenant Ellen Ripley and her battles with the deadly Xenomorph commonly referred to as the Alien. Continuing the groundbreaking story fromALIEN: OUT OF THE SHADOWS by Tim Lebbon, this novel will reveal Ripley's legacy, as her descendants continue to be harried by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation in their unceasing effort to weaponize the aliens.Produced by Twentieth Century Fox, the franchise launched with the release of the 1979 film, Alien. The film led to three very successful movie sequels, numerous books, comics and video game spinoffs. This second novel and its two tightly plotted tie-ins will directly relate to the first two films of the franchise, expanding the canon like never before. Alien TM & © 1979, 2013 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Views: 8
Two women from different worlds bound in a quest to save their loved ones. After a long career as an aid worker, Sabine Hardt has retreated to her native Germany for a quieter life. But when her American niece Lily disappears while volunteering in Uganda, Sabine must return to places and memories she once thought buried in order to find her. In Uganda, Rose Akulu—haunted by a troubled past with the Lord's Resistance Army and a family torn apart by war—is distressed when her lover Ocen vanishes without a trace. Side by side, Sabine and Rose must unravel the tangled threads that tie Lily and Ocen's lives together—ultimately discovering that the truth of their loved ones' disappearance is inescapably entwined to the secrets the two women carry. Vividly rendered by a fresh new voice in fiction, The Atlas of Forgotten Places delves deep into the heart of compassion and redemption. It spans geographies and generations to lay bare the... Views: 8
Cory Anderson arrives at The Patton Military Institute for Higher Education to find a roommate with a cocky attitude—and a body to die for—and hear the news that corporal punishment is the penalty for certain infractions. It isn't long before he suffers a physical reprimand, but it's given by the handsome barracks sergeant in the privacy of his office. Cory's roommate also comes under the belt, and it's immediately obvious that the well-endowed Blaine enjoyed the whipping.Soon Cory and Blaine are getting cozier after lights out though neither admits to being gay. When Cory discovers a pair of men having sex in the showers during his sentry duty, it leads to tension in the barracks that quickly rises to a crisis point. The solution is obvious, but are Blaine and Cory man enough to face it? And how will it affect their "friends with benefits" relationship? Views: 8
When Psyche, because of her beauty and so many suitors, declares she hates Love and Beauty, her father closes the Temple of Aphrodite. Aphrodite sends Eros to punish them, but Eros falls in love with Psyche. His loyalty to Aphrodite causes him to punish Psyche by marrying her to a monster (himself in disguise). Psyche admits her attraction to the monster, and needs to prove her love to Eros. 2nd of the Myth trilogy by Roberta Gellis; originally published by Pinnacle Views: 8
A cozy paranormal romance by USA Today bestselling author Mindy Klasky.Former warder David Montrose has a problem. Or two. Or three.He's been fired from his job protecting the witches of Washington DC. Now, he's stuck working a dead-end job at Hecate's Court while he tries to redeem his reputation and put his life back together.Which would be a decent plan if things weren't so…complicated. His new boss is a tyrant. His father says he's disgraced the family name. And instead of sympathizing, his best friend is trying to drag him onto the front lines of an all-out supernatural war. Just as David gets a glimpse of the elusive work-life-magic balance, he's summoned back to warder status. His unexpected new charge is a captivating witch who possesses the strongest powers he's ever seen. David already has enough on his plate. How can he possibly juggle work, warfare, and warding Jane... Views: 8
